Why the Ad Grant can’t compete with paid ads

You’ll hear us mention that certain keywords typically won’t do well in an Ad Grant account, sometimes failing to generate any traffic or spend at all. This page explains the why.

Written by

Rebecca Vizcardo

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First, let’s define a paid and an Ad Grant account.

When someone searches on Google, this is known as a search term or keyword, ads appear. A bid is placed to appear for that keyword. Who pays for that bid, meaning the click, is the difference between the two types of accounts.

Paid account. You pay out of pocket for every click. If you bid $10 per click, every time someone clicks your ad, you’re paying $10. This is known as CPC, or cost per click.

Ad Grant account. Each click is paid for out of your $329/day Google credit. That same $10 bid is paid by Google, not you.

The big takeaway: Even if a paid advertiser bids less than you on the same keyword, their ad still ranks above yours, no matter how high you bid.

Three stacked ad listings. The top two show paid bids of $1.27 and $1.25, both ranking above a third ad with a $5.00 bid labeled as your bid, showing that a higher bid still doesn't outrank paid accounts.

Most nonprofits running paid accounts focus on the same common keywords, things like:

Local fundraising event searches.
Vehicle donation and planned giving terms.
Tax-deductible donation keywords.

While the Ad Grant can generate donations and create fundraising, it shouldn’t be relied on exclusively for it.